[Mahatma Morya
Appears on Balcony]

by S. Ramaswamier

[First published in Richard Hodgson's "Account of Personal
Investigations in India,
and Discussion of the Authorship of the 'Koot Hoomi' Letters," Proceedings of the Society for Psychical
Research,
Volume III, 1885, Appendix VIII, p. 362. ]

I had been a member of the Society about two months, when I went to the [Theosophical
Society] headquarters at Bombay [in December 1881]. After being there 2 or 3 days, Madame
came in to me one morning and said I was thinking of something special, and that she had
Masters orders to tell me to put it in writing and give it to her. I wrote a letter
during the day. Madame asked me to accompany her for a drive - somewhere between 6 and 7
p.m. As we went downstairs to get into the carriage, I gave her the letter. She put it
into her pocket, and we immediately got into the carriage. We got out at the
telegraph-office, in order that a telegram might be sent to congratulate some friends who
were being married. Either the Colonel or Damodar went alone to the telegraph-office, but
not out of my sight.

Madame then said she felt the presence of the Masters at headquarters, and wanted to go
back directly. We usually walked up the road towards the house, but on this occasion
Madame would not allow us to leave the carriage. As the carriage neared the portico, I saw
the figure of a man leaning on the railing of the balcony with a letter between finger and
thumb. We all remained motionless for a short time, the figure on the balcony also. The
letter was then thrown down by the figure. It fell near the carriage, on the ground.
Colonel Olcott got out and took it up, and we all then ran up to the balcony. But no one
was there. The night was bright moonlight. The figure was tall about 6ft., well-built, and
the face very handsome. The eyes were very calm and motionless, giving an aspect of
serenity. The hair was dark and long, the beard was short. He had a fehta on his head, and
did not speak. I had never seen the figure before. Afterwards I recognised the resemblance
between this figure and the portrait in possession of the Colonel, which I had not
previously seen.

The letter was addressed to me, and contained words to the effect that every man must
have his own deserts, and that if I deserved well of the Mahatmas they would assist me;
also that my desire to become a pupil had not been long in existence, and that I should
wait to see whether it was a mere passing thought or not. (In my letter I had expressed a
desire, among other things, to become a pupil.) This was the whole substance of the
letter, in my own words. Time - between 7 and 8 p.m.